Chapter 210: Negative Multiplied by Negative Makes Positive
Chapter 210: Negative Multiplied by Negative Makes Positive
That day, a rumor suddenly exploded through all of Qingjiang Prefecture. Earlier, the news about the Six Sects of Qingjiang slaying the Demon Hound had already set tongues wagging throughout the region. Now, word suddenly spread that there was more to the Demon Hound incident. Major merchant houses within Qingjiang had secretly colluded with demons. The County Mansion’s Chief Warden had detained them all collectively and thrown them into the great prison. This instantly shocked everyone in the city.
And this, clearly, was only the beginning.
The people of Qingjiang City felt a mix of novelty and fury. Especially since it was said that this matter once again came from Shoushan Sect, the very sect that had slain the Demon Hound before. Their rage swelled, brewing fury in every street and alley…
The detainment of these merchant houses and their managers, and how much might be uncovered and who might be implicated, filled many influential families with dread.
“If it were only the matter of Crow Mountain, that might still be manageable…”
Even Elders Green Pine and Cold Stone, who had just stepped out of the County Mansion, voiced their worry: “But the most critical part this time is the private trade between the Seven Clans and the Southern Borderlands’ Demon Lords! If that truly gets uncovered… then… then…” Thinking of the severity of the consequences, even these two elders dared not continue.
The horrors of thirty years ago, when the Great Southern Demon Sovereign ravaged the North, still haunted the hearts of Qingjiang’s people.
What wrath would erupt if they heard someone was privately trading with that same Great Demon Sovereign again?
“No matter how severe the consequences, they were brought upon themselves by those who committed these acts…”
Sect Master Xu let out a long sigh. “Even Second Young Master Fang supports us. So what’s there to fear?”
“He truly supports us?”
Elders Green Pine and Cold Stone looked stunned.
Young Sect Master Xu also couldn’t help but pause. “Couldn’t you both tell?”
“We only caught that his words didn’t sound like he was angry…”
Elders Green Pine and Cold Stone answered almost simultaneously. “Second Young Master Fang isn’t like this when he’s truly angry…”
“Exactly. When he’s angry, he seems utterly without temper instead…”
“… ”
Young Sect Master Xu sighed helplessly, his expression thoughtful. He lowered his voice. “When he asked me ‘who leads Shoushan Sect?’, he was telling me to act without worrying about repercussions. Asking me ‘does Shoushan Sect wish to return to the Six Sects, or make enemies of all Qingjiang cultivators?’ was forcing me to decide if I was willing to bear the consequences for pursuing my chosen goal. Asking me if I understood the rules of the cultivation world…”
He paused slightly before sighing softly again, “… it was to make me understand: in this world, the vast sky and earth pale before the fist. He told me not to try reasoning with others or pin my hopes on others. How big my fist is determines how much ‘reason’ I can demand…”
The two elders were bewildered. “What about the fourth thing?”
“The fourth thing is even simpler. ‘Without evidence, don’t wrongly accuse people.'”
Young Sect Master Xu said with a bitter smile, “Which is to say: if we do have evidence, then who cares?”
The two elders were dumbfounded. After a long moment, they asked, “What if… he didn’t mean it that way?”
“… ”
Young Sect Master Xu looked at the two elders, feeling a headache coming on.
“If he hadn’t thought that, then where did those key people hidden by the Seven Clans come from?”
Speaking this out loud, Young Sect Master Xu also sighed softly himself, his expression tinged with confusion. “To, at this critical moment, simply utter ‘seize them’ and have these key players captured… this already transcends the matter of cultivation power. It can only mean he had people watching them long ago. Or perhaps he arranged long ago to have some of the key figures within the major merchant houses under control?”
He slowly lifted his gaze to the south, in the direction of the current Lingwu Sect. After a long while, he murmured, “Over the past month, my open investigations and secret inquiries, my haggling with the County Mansion, my rivalries with the merchant networks… made me feel the world is full of demons, teeth-baring and blood-sucking, hellish. Even I felt utterly exhausted and despairing several times, thinking ‘to hell with it all, this isn’t worth it’…”
“But seeing now…”
“At the very least, our esteemed Elder Fang sees value in the things I did…”
…
…
At the very same moment, within a guest hall of Lingwu Sect.
Fang Cun held a secret cloud message scroll. After reading it, he set it down, satisfied.
Young Sect Master Xu was a trustworthy man.
Back then, when he had instructed Lin Jiyi and others to enter the scene early, naturally he couldn’t not keep an eye on Young Sect Master Xu too. It was precisely because Young Sect Master Xu exerted immense public pressure on the major merchant networks, forcing them into a frantic state, that his own hidden agents found it easier to observe. Whether it was watching them secretly cover up their crimes or seeing where they hid their key personnel, everything remained within his grasp.
Bringing them out into the open was simple.
Either the hiding places themselves had informants arranged by Lin Jiyi and his team nearby; or the very people who helped these targets hide already carried his Life-Death Sigil within them. In all of this, he hadn’t even put in much personal effort. He’d merely instructed Lin Jiyi beforehand: watch Young Sect Master Xu, and give him some assistance when the time is critical.
Looking now, Lin Jiyi had done well.
Another point Fang Cun was satisfied with was this: Lin Jiyi, Lady Hongtao, the eccentric Gu-Master Guai Li… none of them could be considered top-tier masters. But each had their own methods. Add to that the Life-Death Sigils, silver, and the Treasure Body Method he had bestowed upon them, they were enough to kick up a significant ripple within the Jianghu of Qingjiang City. What was happening now? Just a small disturbance. Greater preparations remained hidden.
When he had time later, he should definitely look into their progress.
“Young Master Fang, you seem to be in a good mood?”
Turning his head was He Zhenzhang. He had been idly playing chess with Meng Qing’er and now sported a face plastered with paper slips. He saw Fang Cun, who was uncharacteristically not poring over boxes of scrolls but rather gazing at a cloud message scroll and sipping tea with a faint smile. He asked curiously.
“Quite so…”
Fang Cun set down the cloud scroll, which He Zhenzhang immediately snatched away out of curiosity.
“Such a big matter?”
Seeing the contents along with Meng Qing’er, who moments before had been chasing He Zhenzhang to paste more slips, He Zhenzhang’s expression transformed into shock.
Why did the County Mansion suddenly grow such teeth, arresting so many people from the merchant houses?
Then, remembering the agreement Second Young Master Fang made with the Seven Clans’ Qi Refiners, their expressions gradually became horrified.
Was Young Sect Master Xu truly that formidable? Or was Second Young Master Fang scheming once more?
“What happened?”
Hearing the commotion, Yu Qingli, who had been cultivating in a side chamber, and the Little Fox, who was practicing calligraphy near the Alchemy Cauldron in the inner hall using the ambient Qi, also lifted their heads curiously. They realized something significant must have just occurred.
“Just a small matter!”
Fang Cun replied, taking the cloud scroll back and putting it away.
He seemed to grasp their unspoken questions. He suddenly turned to He Zhenzhang. “What kind of behaviour do you find most detestable?”
“Promising someone something, and then going back on your word…”
He Zhenzhang answered without thinking. “Why?”
“…”
Fang Cun smiled. “Nothing much. The thing I find most detestable is taking people’s money but refusing to work!”
He Zhenzhang’s expression became extremely peculiar. “Then what exactly are you doing?”
“I wasn’t finished!”
Fang Cun said. “Then, doing the thing you find most detestable to the people you find most detestable… isn’t that just ‘negative multiplied by negative makes positive’?”
He Zhenzhang was stunned before he could speak. Suddenly, the sound of fluttering robes whooshed from outside the hall.
“Young Master Fang! Don’t you think you owe us an explanation for this?”
A stern shout echoed from afar. Through the window lattice, one could see numerous practitioners mounting Soaring Clouds, rising into the air above Lingwu Sect. Their paths intertwined as countless figures brimming with fury sped towards the guest hall on the clouds. In an instant, they gathered before the hall doors. As their forms became clear, the group included Second Master Hu, Young Master Bai, the Lingwu Sect Leader, and others.
“Hiss…”
Seeing this imposing display, He Zhenzhang and the others were startled, their expressions instantly wary as they hastily retreated.
“An explanation?”
Fang Cun remained calm, a smile on his face. “What explanation do you seek?”
How dare you play the fool even now?
The Qi Refiners of the Seven Clans, along with Lingwu Sect’s leader and elders, were filled with rage.
Everything had been settled clearly before! The Seven Clans had demonstrated their sincerity; they had even paid you! Look, the cultivation manuals and texts on your desk are still the ones we provided! But what do you do? You let things become ten times worse!
Before, it was just Shoushan Sect pressuring the Seven Clans, an ambiguous tug-of-war. Now? Witnesses had been rounded up! They had already received urgent messages from their families; the situation had escalated to terrifying levels. Arresting the managers was bad enough, but this threatened to uncover even more serious problems! How could they vent this suffocating, towering anger?
Despite their fury, when they opened their mouths, they momentarily couldn’t even find the right words for condemnation. Forcing down their rage, they spoke testily, “Didn’t Second Young Master Fang promise us earlier that he would rein in that young sect master of Shoushan Sect? That he would stop that relentless persecution and cease causing trouble for our clans’ businesses? Yet now, what we just received word of…”
“I did promise…”
Fang Cun looked at them curiously. “And I even had someone go scold him for you. Didn’t you hear?”
The group was instantly silenced. Scolding him? What good did that do?
Without waiting for their answer, Fang Cun smiled cheerfully and sat up straight. Placing the scrolls before him and tucking his hands into his sleeves, he slowly stood.
“I, Fang the Second, keep my word. I take payment; I deliver the service you paid for. I promised you, and I did it. I took your things, and I had him scolded. But after all, he is the sect leader. If he simply refuses to listen to me, and even I am furious, what can be done?”
The faces of those who had stormed into the hall turned livid… stomach ache brewing fury.
Just scolding someone finishes the job?
You claim to be furious? You sure don’t look it to us!
“Does Second Young Master Fang truly think the Seven Clans are so easily dismissed? That this can just be brushed aside?”
Young Master Bai, his heart filled with resentment, suddenly stepped forward. His voice was cold. “You gave your word. The Seven Clans demonstrated our sincerity. Yet in the end, we get this… this farcical outcome? I must ask, Second Young Master Fang… did you truly exert your utmost effort?”
“What more could I do?”
Fang Cun laughed. “Perhaps you wish for me to rebel against my own sect leader?”
He sighed theatrically. “He is, after all, the Sect Leader of Shoushan Sect. The payment you provided… simply wasn’t enough…”